Hi! What you can get for free is boiled water (there's a huge boiler at the school). Normal 'mineral' water you have to buy in a local shop - pros: it's not expensive, cons: it's heavy to carry. Third option - large water containers that you can buy with a pomp, they're sold at the school and they're even cheaper. Then you give back the empty bottle and get a new one for a symbolic price (6 yuan or sth like that). The problem is - in general, water quality is not great in China and I can't tell you which one of those 3 options is the best for your health. Plastic bottles are bad because we drink microplastic... Boiled water kills bacteria, but surely all of it? I don't know. All I can tell you, you have those 3 options.
Hi Leonie! I didn't get any vaccinations and I haven't heard of anyone in the school getting any before they came to the school (or maybe this topic didn't come up). It's not like I'm advising against it, I simply disregarded this aspect and assumed I would be fine - and I survived. No big preparations for the trip either, other than having to take a sabbatical leave from work and sublet my room for the time I was gone. What I can recommend to do as a preparation though is to start training and try to achieve a decent fitness and cardio level BEFORE coming to the school, because this way you'll get more value from the actual classes. Many people, including me, suffered from massive muscle pain in the beginning and it was difficult to follow some exercises due to the pain. Of course, people also go to this school as beginners and that's fine if your goal is to get fit, learn a bit of Kung Fu and lose weight. But if you want to get the best value and learn as much Kung Fu as you can during your stay, it's better to come prepared for this amount of classes. Let me know if you have more questions.
Jamesieboy Hi! While I was at the school, there was a guy with two kids ages 8 & 10 or so, there was another guy with a younger brother about 12y.o, and also a boy around 14 that was alone. I don’t know what you mean by ‘younger person’, but there were even kids training at the school, so any age is possible. I would say it’s more down to your character than the age. Enduring the training physically, living in a new culture where you go to the local shop and can only communicate with gestures, eating food that is different than your normally eat... the list goes on. All I’m trying to say is that some people love it, others struggle accepting certain aspects of living at the school, but from my observation, it’s not about the age - it’s more about the personality and adaptability. If you think you’d be welcoming a totally new experience in your life and you’d be willing to accept the fact that you won’t like some parts of it (e.g. masters doing regular checkups of the rooms, if they’re clean), then this is a place for you. But if you’re picky about the bed you sleep in (the beds are not very comfy at the school), if you hate waking up early, if you’re very picky about food - this can be an issue. The training itself suits all ages.
Shy Ninja Oh great! I adapt very fast, I can also speak Chinese at a conversational level right now, I am 14, I think this will be an amazing place for me. I do already train shaolin kung fu so I don’t know what would happen about that because that would make me not a complete beginner.
I saw a video about some people buying water at the school, is there a free water supply provided, or do you have to buy it ?
Hi! What you can get for free is boiled water (there's a huge boiler at the school). Normal 'mineral' water you have to buy in a local shop - pros: it's not expensive, cons: it's heavy to carry. Third option - large water containers that you can buy with a pomp, they're sold at the school and they're even cheaper. Then you give back the empty bottle and get a new one for a symbolic price (6 yuan or sth like that). The problem is - in general, water quality is not great in China and I can't tell you which one of those 3 options is the best for your health. Plastic bottles are bad because we drink microplastic... Boiled water kills bacteria, but surely all of it? I don't know. All I can tell you, you have those 3 options.
Thanks for this review. I would like to ask what preperations you made for the trip and wich vaccination did you get?
Hi Leonie!
I didn't get any vaccinations and I haven't heard of anyone in the school getting any before they came to the school (or maybe this topic didn't come up). It's not like I'm advising against it, I simply disregarded this aspect and assumed I would be fine - and I survived.
No big preparations for the trip either, other than having to take a sabbatical leave from work and sublet my room for the time I was gone.
What I can recommend to do as a preparation though is to start training and try to achieve a decent fitness and cardio level BEFORE coming to the school, because this way you'll get more value from the actual classes. Many people, including me, suffered from massive muscle pain in the beginning and it was difficult to follow some exercises due to the pain. Of course, people also go to this school as beginners and that's fine if your goal is to get fit, learn a bit of Kung Fu and lose weight. But if you want to get the best value and learn as much Kung Fu as you can during your stay, it's better to come prepared for this amount of classes. Let me know if you have more questions.
@@shyninja5844 thanks for your advice and help
What would it be like here for a younger person? I could be going after quarantine for around one year.
Jamesieboy Hi! While I was at the school, there was a guy with two kids ages 8 & 10 or so, there was another guy with a younger brother about 12y.o, and also a boy around 14 that was alone. I don’t know what you mean by ‘younger person’, but there were even kids training at the school, so any age is possible. I would say it’s more down to your character than the age. Enduring the training physically, living in a new culture where you go to the local shop and can only communicate with gestures, eating food that is different than your normally eat... the list goes on. All I’m trying to say is that some people love it, others struggle accepting certain aspects of living at the school, but from my observation, it’s not about the age - it’s more about the personality and adaptability. If you think you’d be welcoming a totally new experience in your life and you’d be willing to accept the fact that you won’t like some parts of it (e.g. masters doing regular checkups of the rooms, if they’re clean), then this is a place for you. But if you’re picky about the bed you sleep in (the beds are not very comfy at the school), if you hate waking up early, if you’re very picky about food - this can be an issue. The training itself suits all ages.
Shy Ninja Oh great! I adapt very fast, I can also speak Chinese at a conversational level right now, I am 14, I think this will be an amazing place for me. I do already train shaolin kung fu so I don’t know what would happen about that because that would make me not a complete beginner.
Very solid review! Definitely considering once Covid is all over 😂💁🏽♂️
Me too I have been binge watching these types or videos
its good so bored b/c high minutes
I had a doubt about training there
Is they taught the practical application of each movement along with the movement